Iranian leaders of the Iran–Iraq War explained

This is a list of Iranian leaders of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988).

Leaders

Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces

• Abolhassan Banisadr (Start of War – 10 June 1981)
• Ruhollah Khomeini (10 June 1981 – End of War)
  • Akbar Rafsanjani, acted as the de facto commander-in-chief since mid-1980s and was later officially appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief on 2 June 1988
    • Hassan Rouhani, served as deputy to second-in-command since 1988^[1]

Military commanders

Strategic level

Chief-of-Staff

• Brig. Gen. Valiollah Fallahi (Start of War – 29 September 1981)
• Brig. Gen. Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad (1 October 1981 – 25 October 1984)
• Col. Esmaeil Sohrabi (25 October 1984 – 1988)
• Brig. Gen. Ali Shahbazi (1988 – End of War)

Ground Force

• Brig. Gen. Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad (Start of War – 1 October 1981)
• Col. Ali Sayyad Shirazi (1 October 1981 – Spring 1986)^[2]
• Col. Hossein Hassani-Sadi (Spring 1986 – End of War)

Air Force

• Col. Javad Fakoori (Start of War – 29 September 1981)
• Col. Mohammad-Hossein Moinpour (2 October 1981 – 25 November 1983)
• Col. Houshang Seddigh (25 November 1983 – 1986)^[3]
• Col. Mansour Sattari (1986 – End of War)

Navy

• Cpt. Bahram Afzali (Start of War – 30 April 1983)
• Cpt. Esfandiar Hosseini (30 April 1983 – 25 June 1985)
• Cpt. Mohammad-Hossein Malekzadegan (25 June 1985 – End of War)

Commander-in-Chief

• Morteza Rezaee (Start of War –)^[4]
• Mohsen Rezaei (11 September 1981 – End of War)

General Staff

• Alireza Afshar (November 1984 –)
• Mohammad Forouzandeh (– End of War)

Basij

• Amir Majd (Start of War – December 1981)
• Ahmad Salek (December 1981 –)
• Mohammad-Ali Rahmani (16 February 1984 – End of War)

Ground Force

• Yahya Rahim Safavi (1985–)
• Ali Shamkhani (May 1986 –)

Air Force

• Akbar Rafan (1985 – End of War)

Navy

• Hossein Alaei (1985 – End of War)

Operational level

Division commanders

• Col. Hassan Abshenasan
• Col. Masoud Monfared Niyaki
• Col. Hasan Aghareb Parast

Division commanders

• Hossein Kharrazi
• Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
• Ahmad Kazemi
• Mohammad Boroujerdi
• Ebrahim Hemmat
• Qassem Soleimani
• Mehdi Bakeri
• Ahmad Motevaselian
• Mehdi Zeinoddin
• Mahmoud Kaveh
• Ali Hashemi (Commander)
• Sabz Ali Khodadad (Commander)

Ministers

Minister of Defence

• Mostafa Chamran (Start of War – 29 October 1980)
• Col. Javad Fakoori (–September 1980)
• Col. Mousa Namjoo (17–29 September 1981)
• Col. Mohammad Salimi (October 1981 – October 1985)
• Col. Mohammad Hossein Jalali (October 1985 – End of War)

Minister of Revolutionary Guards

• Mohsen Rafighdoost (November 1982 – End of War)^[5]

Notes and References

1. Sveshnikova. Yulia. Roknifard. Amir. Iranian Election Results: Change on Horizon?. Security Index: A Russian Journal on International Security. December 2013. 19. 4. 71–76. 10.1080/19934270.2013.846083.
2. Book: Zabir. Sepehr. The Iranian Military in Revolution and War (RLE Iran D). 2011. Routledge. London. 978-0-415-61785-7. Reprint.. 244–246.
3. Book: Razoux. Pierre. 2015. The Iran-Iraq War. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-91571-8. Appendix: Iranian High Command.
4. Johnson. Henry. Spring 2014. Islamic Nationalism: Tracing Paradoxes in the Evolution of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Senior thesis. Claremont McKenna College. 18.
5. Encyclopedia: JAMʿIYAT-E MOʾTALEFA-YE ESLĀMI i. Hayʾathā-ye Moʾtalefa-ye Eslāmi 1963–79. Encyclopædia Iranica. February 20, 2013. December 15, 2008. Bibliotheca Persica Press. New York City. XIV. Rahnema. Ali. March 15, 2016. Fasc. 5. 483–500. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamiyat-e-motalefa-ii. ii. Jamʿiyat-e Moʾtalefa and the Islamic Revolution.